


Engagement

by GalacticNB



Series: Dance of Void and Light [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - The Infection Never Happens, And is usually only given to the most trusted male in the Hive, Dissociation, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, He just has skewed priorities, Hive Knight is a familial tradition, Honestly I'm Not Sure What Else I'm Supposed to Put Here?, Intrusive Thoughts, Neo Pronouns, No One Actually Uses Puns Except Me, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pale King is semi-detached from his kids, Pale King isn't fully an asshole, Puns & Word Play, Pure Vessel (Hollow Knight) Uses Pronouns, Pure Vessel At the End is 17, Pure Vessel At the Start is 8, Quirrel is the Soul Master's son, Radiance At the Start is 9, Radiance at the End is 18, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Trust Issues, Vey/Vem Pronouns for The Radiance (Hollow Knight), Xey/Xem Pronouns for The Hollow Knight (Hollow Knight), ask to tag, kind of?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21625597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticNB/pseuds/GalacticNB
Summary: What if Pure Vessel and Radiance were engaged?That's it.That's this part of the story.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel/The Radiance, The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight)
Series: Dance of Void and Light [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558489
Comments: 35
Kudos: 100





	1. The Suitors

“Mama, why do I have to do this?” Radiance asked with a pout as they squirmed uncomfortably in the lacey and frilly garments that they had been forced into earlier that morning.

Their moth mother, Starlight, smiled as she pet her child’s carefully groomed mane of fluff, giggling at how they batted at her hand and glared at her with a soft childish huff. The two were currently making their way through the winding corridors of the Pale Palance, where the small moth was due to meet their future suitors.

Radiance couldn’t really see why they had to do this.

The bugs of Hallownest were just so dull and boring and formal and grayscale! All of them were either too afraid to talk to them or, if they did, they just droned on and on about things that they didn’t understand and honestly didn’t want to know about.

And don’t get them started on the appearance of the White Palace!

It all was too glowing, too white, _too perfect_. It made Radiance shudder and cling closer to their mother as they tried not to get lost in all of these hallways that all looked the same and didn't have any rhyme or reason. Finally, they got to a set of large silver doors with the Wyrm’s symbol carved into it with two royal retainers standing in front of it, whispering to each other in hushed tones. However, after Starlight cleared her throat, the two startled and, after realizing who it was, bowed deeply, their foreheads practically brushing the ground.

“Queen Starlight! Princess Radiance! You came sooner than we expected!” the one said in a rushed tone, as if they had to explain what they were doing.

“It’s quite alright. Now, would you two be so kind as to let me and my darling child through?” the moth monarch said as her grip tightened on Radiance’s hand.

The two stumbled over their words before they eventually went silent as they fumbled with the doors and opened it wide for the two, returning to their deep bows. Radiance could see their mother roll her eyes in the corner of their eye as they were pulled into the room. They felt all eyes go on the two of them, making Radiance cling onto their mother a bit more as they looked at all the judgemental stares.

And at the front of them, was the Pale King, or, as Radiance liked to call him, the Pale Fork.

“It’s a pleasure to see that you and your daughter were able to make it. After all, this is for her.” the wyrm said, his voice clipped and borderline rude as he stared at Radiance, who just held onto their mother’s robes tighter.

“ _Child_ , Wyrm. We’ve talked about this before.” Her expression and voice was cold and harsh as she spoke to the Pale King but it softened as she knelt down so she was eye-level with Radiance as she gently ran her fingers through her fluff, a gentle smile on her face, “Why don’t you go talk to the other kids and decide who you want to marry?” Starlight encouraged as she gently pried their hands off of her robes.

Radiance unsurely nodded as they walked over to where the other kids were, obviously trying to pass the time as they were waiting for them to arrive. There were five children all sitting around, with some of them pestering each other while the others were just quietly sitting their trying to do something.

The first child was a young Mantis who was curled on a seat and kept on glaring at the other kids as they tried to nap. There was nothing really remarkable about the Mantis to Radiance, other than the fact that they had a flower delicately placed in between their antennae, which were especially curly and long.

Radiance then shifted her attention to the second child, a bee who was chattering around the third child, who was a moth, to the fourth child, who was a pill bug. The second one reminded them of their bee mother, Honeycomb, who was still at home making sure that nothing bad happened while the two were gone, so they immediately marked them off the list of who they might be interested in, as they didn’t want to think of a family member when they were married to someone.

The third child, similarly to the second, was marked off the list due to them being a moth similar to Starlight. Though it was a shame, as the moth seemed to be fairly interesting, being a bright crimson color with a nice cream collar and wearing a single golden bead. They seemed annoyed by the fact that the bee and the pillbug were talking around them but also didn’t seem intent enough on actually doing anything to stop them from talking

The fourth bug, simply put, was too energetic for Radiance, as they seemed very interested in whatever the bee wanted to say, to the point where it was obviously making the moth uncomfortable with how loud they were. And, other than that, they seemed very plain looking, with their only distinguishing feature being the fact that they had a blue scarf tied around their head.

The fifth bug, a cicada, was also quietly sitting there, humming a tune as they drew something on the sheet of paper in front of them. Seeing as there was an empty seat next to them, Radiance sat next to them and quietly watched them draw, not knowing what else to do. The cicada seemed to be drawing themself holding a scorpion’s hand, with both of them blushing and there being a giant heart in between the two.

“Do you have a crush on someone?” Radiance couldn’t help but ask softly, accidentally startling the cicada.

However, with their words, the cicada wasn’t the only one whose attention was drawn to them. All four of the other kids immediately were drawn to them, all with varying reactions. Both the bee and the pill bug grinned excitedly and started to bounce in their seats while the mantis simply went back to trying to go to sleep and the moth put aside the book that they were trying to read and just looked curiously at Radiance.

“So you’re Princess Radiance?! It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Quirrel!” the pillbug immediately said, holding out his hand to shake.

The moth seemed horrified by the fact that they did that and immediately tried to push down his arm.

“You can’t just do that! This is a child of two of the Higher Ones!” the moth said, sounding panicked as they glanced over at Radiance.

The bee/moth hybrid giggled as they reached over and gingerly shook Quirrel’s hand, being surprised by how firm and ecstatic his grip was. Immediately, a soft gasp escaped the bee as they stared in awe at the interaction, their hands covering their once chattering mouth.

“A Higher Being let you shake their hand?” they asked, sounding surprised and amazed at what they just saw go down.

This seemed to make the cicada relax a little as they gave a wide grin, sticking their hand out for Radiance to shake, which they did eagerly as the cicada said, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, your Majesty! I’m Cloth! My dad is the Great Knight of Hollownest!” 

At that last statement, her chest puffed out with pride, as if it was something that Radiance should know what it means. And apparently, their face must have shown their confusion, because Cloth seemed to deflate a little and give a small sheepish laugh as she rubbed the back of her head.

“I forgot that you’re not from around here. Being a Great Knight means that you’re super strong and trusted by the Pale King!” Cloth explained with an excited sparkle in her eyes.

“It’s like the Hive Knight for the Hive, my Monarch.” the bee timidly explained further, looking nervous that they had overstepped.

“Oh! I get it!” Radiance said, finally getting it with the comparison to Honeycomb’s faithful knight, Apocrita.

The bee seemed proud to have helped out and made a cute giggling buzz as they scratched the back of their head. That seemed to have finally made the moth relax as well as they tentatively held out their hand, as if expecting Radiance to bite them.

“I’m Markoth, my light. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be able to meet you.” he said, bowing his head respectfully.

“The pleasure’s all mine! Also, you can just call me Radiance or Radi, if you want!” the bee moth heir said with a small giggle.

“If you say so, Radiance.” Markoth said, an ever so slight smile quirking his lips.

“O-oh! I’m Bombus!” the bee suddenly blurted out and, upon being given confused looked, sheepishly laughed, “I just realized I didn’t introduce myself.” 

“What about you?” Radiance asked the mantis youth, who still hadn’t spoken throughout the conversation.

The mantis seemed annoyed by suddenly being talked to but sighed as they hovered in the air and respectfully bowed toward the bee-moth heir.

“I am Princess Carinata, daughter of the youngest Mantis Lord. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Radiance.” she said, her voice stiff and formal as she then laid back down again.

Radiance frowned a little before she turned her attention back to Cloth, who was still holding her drawing in her hands.

“So, who’re you drawing?” they inquired, tilting their head to the side.

Cloth’s cheeks flushed as she mumbled her answer, holding the paper close to her chest. Quirrel grinned mischievously as he stared at Cloth.

“Do you have a crush~?” he asked, his voice light-hearted and teasing as he leaned against Cloth.

“N-No!” Cloth spluttered, though her quickly reddening face told a different story.

“Then why does your drawing have you and a scorpion holding hands with a heart over it?” Radiance asked, their voice innocent with a slight hint of teasing to it as their mouth twitched into a smile at Cloth’s flustered expression. 

Cloth squeaked in embarrassment as she buried her face in her hands as the other kids started to gently tease her about her crush, trying to pry information from her. However, as they started to talk, Radiance noticed that there was a sixth child that she hadn’t noticed before.

Their seat was in the far back, practically invisible in the shadows. They had a solid white mask that wrapped around their entire pitch black head and had two giant eyeholes, a white with black speckled carapace that seemed smooth and without any signs of joints, and wore a grey cloak that seemed tattered and tightly wound around them. 

Glancing briefly over at their new friends, Radiance got up and crept over to them, tilting their head curiously. Now that they were closer, they could feel this...loneliness that was radiating from the small child and the feeling of longing as they stared past them at the group of kids. Wanting to change that, Radiance grabbed a chair from nearby and placed it next to the strange child, scooting close.

“Hi, there.” they said, folding their hands on their lap.

The child barely flinched as they slowly turned their head, tilting their head curiously as if they were surprised that someone was talking to them. Then, almost hesitantly, the small child raised their hand and pointed it at themself as a small voice echoed in Radiance’s head.

**Me?**

The voice was soft and raspy, as if it was unused to speaking. Radiance giggled as they nodded excitedly.

“Yep! You seemed so lonely all by yourself so I came over to talk to you!” they explained happily.

The eyeholes didn’t change shape but the energy coming off of the child definitely changed, becoming surprised and confused instead of lonely and longing.

 **You can hear me?** The voice asked, as if no one had heard them spoke before.

“Well, yeah! Can people normally not hear you?” Radiance said with a laugh before it faltered as they realized that their new companion might not have been joking.

 **No. Father said that I wasn’t supposed to talk. Or think. Or have will.** The voice said, sounding hesitant and almost sad.

“Well, that’s dumb. Who’s your dad?” Radiance asked as their eyes sweeping over the various adults that were in the room.

**The Pale King.**

As the words echoed in Radiance’s head, they huffed irritably as they glared at the Pale King, who was talking to the White Lady. A wide grin spread across their face as they held their hand for the child to take.

“What’s your name?” Radiance asked, a small idea slowly snowballing in their head.

 **Father refers to me as The Pure Vessel.** The voice said, sounding confused about what was going on as the child took the moth-bee’s hand.

“Well, Pure, you’re going to be my future spouse!” 


	2. Future Spouse?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some insight into Pure Vessel's mind and Pale King's reaction to the engagement.

Pure wasn’t sure why they were being dragged along to this entire thing. Especially considering that Father kept on saying things to Mother that were along the lines of “it’s not allowed near any of the royal figures”. But they obediently followed their parents into a room and went to go sit in an empty chair that was far from the other children.

**_No cost too great._ **

The first child was announced as Princess Carinata of the Mantis Tribe, alongside her father, Mantis Lord Cyprus. While Carinata was unreadable and looked almost bored, Cyprus’s mostly cold exterior was slightly cracked to show that he was hopeful about whatever was going to occur.

**_No mind to think._ **

The second child was announced as Future Hive Knight Bombus of the Hive, alongside his father, Current Hive Knight Mellifer. Bombus looked nervous but excited for what was to come while Mellifer looked indifferent and almost annoyed about the whole thing.

**_No will to break._ **

The third child was announced as Future Warrior Markoth of the Moth Tribe, alongside his guardian, who was simply introduced as The Seer. Both Markoth and the Seer were unreadable as Markoth joined the steadily growing group of children.

**_No voice to cry suffering._ **

The fourth child was announced as Future Scholar Quirrel, alongside his father, Alchemist Sol. Quirrel seemed very laid back and blaise about the whole thing while Sol was stiff and kept on glaring at Quirrel, as if he had done something wrong.

**_Born of Root and Wyrm._ **

The fifth child was announced as Future Guard Cloth, alongside her father, Great Knight Hegemol. Both Cloth and Hegemol seemed reluctant to do this, as if they were being forced to do so.

**_You shall seal the everlasting darkness that plagues their dreams._ **

The sixth child, and the one who everyone seemed to be waiting for, was announced as Princess Radiance from the Sun Kingdom, alongside her mother, Queen Starlight. Radiance seemed like she didn’t even want to be there with Starlight being in a similar feeling, though she seemed to be forcing herself to be polite.

**_You are the Pure Vessel._ **

Pure stared at the children, a feeling of longing and sadness starting to swell in their chest as they watched Princess Radiance easily make friends with all of the other children, who seemed to have no interest in becoming friends.

**_You are the Hollow Knight._ **

If Pure had been paying attention, they would have noticed Princess Radiance slip away from the group, come over, and pull over a chair. But, because they weren’t, they were startled when her voice suddenly chirped from next to them.

“Hi, there.” 

Pure turned their head slowly, not wanting to show how startled they had been at her seemingly sudden appearance. When they indeed confirmed that it was Princess Radiance, they tilted their head to the side.

**Me?** They asked, despite knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear them.

However, much to their surprise, the little princess giggled as she nodded, leaning forward toward them.

“Yep! You seemed so lonely all by yourself so I came over to talk to you!” she said with a happy tone of voice.

Pure couldn’t help but stare at Princess Radiance in utter shock and confusion.

**You can hear me?** They asked, wanting to make sure that they weren’t imagining the fact that someone, after all these years, was finally talking to them.

“Well, yeah!” The princess started to laugh before it faltered as she seemed to realize something, “Can people normally not hear you?”

**No. Father said that I wasn’t supposed to talk. Or think. Or have will.** They replied, remembering the words that had been echoing in their head not too long ago.

“Well, that’s dumb. Who’s your dad?” Princess Radiance asked, her head turning to look over at the rest of the room.

**The Pale King.** They replied as their gaze fell on their father, who was talking to their mother.

As their gaze shifted over to the princess, they noticed that a look of disgust crossed her face at the mention of Father as she glared over at him. However, it then turned into a thoughtful look that quickly turned into a wide grin as she held out her hand for them to take.

“What’s your name?” she asked, her head tilted curiously to the side.

Pure faltered, both at the question and at the fact that she was offering them her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, they took Princess Radiance’s hand, immediately noting how nice and warm her hand was and how nice it felt in theirs.

**Father refers to me as the Pure Vessel.** They replied, unable to keep the confusion out of their voice as they hopped out of their seat.

“Well, Pure, you’re going to be my future spouse!” she said with a giggle as she started to lead them toward where her mother and their father were standing.

It took Pure a minute to realize what she meant and was startled and very nervous as they were brought in front of Queen Starlight. The little princess’s mother somehow radiated the same heat that Princess Radiance did, but at a higher radius. However, it didn’t seem to bother the princess as she tugged on her mother’s robes, something that Pure had never done before and so was surprised to see her do.

“Mama, I found who I want to be my spouse!” Prince Radiance said, her grip on Pure tightening.

Queen Starlight turned her mismatched silver and red eyes onto Radiance, which softened as she crouched down, ruffling her fluff in a way that made something stab in Pure’s chest. 

“Did you? Who is it?” she asked, sounding amused and happy about it.

Radiance then suddenly pulled Pure into a hug, making their void underneath their mask flush as their face was pressed into her fluff. 

“This one! Their name is Pure and I want them to be my consort!” she babbled happily, only letting go of them when she was done talking.

Starlight’s eyes then shifted over to Pure, making them stiffen and inadvertently cling to Radiance, feeling intimidated and scared by the scrutinous gaze. She reached out a hand and Pure braced themself for something harsh and was surprised when she just simply patted them on the top of the head before she stood up, turning to face Father.

“Well, you heard Radi. They want your little vessel to be their consort.” Queen Starlight said, a proud and almost smug tone to her voice.

Pure was frozen with fear as they tightened their grip on Radiance as they felt Father’s judgemental stare burn into the back of their head. Void threatened to leak out of their eyeholes when they suddenly felt a wave of comfort and relaxation wash over them, making them briefly tilt their head in confusion before they started to listen to the conversation that was going on.

“-sure that this is who you want to be the future spouse of your kingdom?” they heard Father say as they managed to focus in on the conversation that was going on.

“I’m sure! They’re so cute and shy! They gotta be my future one! And while everyone is really niceーNo offense, guys!” Radiance replied, briefly turning back to the group of the kids.

“None taken, my light!” Bombus said with a small bow of his head and a smile.

Radiance giggled before she continued by saying, “I like Pure the best!”

Father looked at Pure with an emotion that Pure couldn’t quite name. But after staring for what seemed like an eternity, he turned away and looked at Queen Starlight with a mix of defeated and tired look.

“Shall we dismiss everyone so we can talk about our children’s future engagement?” he asked, glancing at all the other royals.

“Agreed.” she said.

And in that moment, with Radiance holding onto them tightly and with Starlight’s hand resting on top of their head, they felt more at peace than at any time that they had ever been.


	3. Year 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance and Pure spend their first visit learning how to communicate in more ways.

The next time Radiance met up with Pure, it was a year later and they noticed that they looked different. Not significantly, just a little bit. Instead of having hands and feet freckled with black, they now looked like their hands and feet had been dunked in ink.

But, when Radiance asked them about it, they shut down and wouldn’t talk until they changed the subject. So they decided to avoid it and instead brought up going to the Archive, which was a giant book store in the middle of the Great Hive that had all sorts of information stored in it, and Pure seemed not only happy to go to such a place, but also to have the subject changed.

When they arrived after getting a quick reminder by Honeycomb not to talk to strangers or anyone shady as well as an allowance to get whatever they wanted at the Library, Radiance couldn’t help but giggle at how adorably in awe Pure was as they looked around at the towering shelves that had various flying insects going around and getting books for those who couldn’t fly yet or at all.

“So what do you want to try to find out about first?” she asked with a small smile.

Pure tilted their head before they spotted something and pointed at it. Radiance squinted at the section and saw that it read “Communication”. Beaming, they took their hand and led them to the section.

Below each stack was an electronic device with the titles of the books contained within each stack as well as a small blurb about them, as well as a button next to each one to signal to the workers that there was a book that was needed.

There were a lot of titles, ranging from various cultural differences to entirely different languages. But what caught Radiance’s attention was something called “How to Refer to Oneself: A Guide on Personal Pronouns”, which had the blurb “In Webster Silksong’s book, ve explores the various ways to refer to oneself and others”.

Pressing the button to summon the worker, they waited patiently until a dragonfly came over, plucked the book from one of the upper shelves, and then handed it to Radiance with a pleasant smile before they flew away. They opened the book and sat down on the floor as they read.

It talked about how there were pronouns other than the default she/he/they, and how some people enjoyed using these pronouns, called neopronouns. There were a few that, while nice, weren’t exactly their style.

Until they saw vey/vem.

Radiance tilted their head as they thought about how nice it would be if people called them “vey” instead of “they”. Nodding happily, vey then turned to see that Pure had settled down next to vem, a book in their hand but looking intently at the book.

“Do you want me to go through the book with you?” vey asked with a humorous giggle to veir voice.

 **...Yes, please.** They said, sounding almost embarrassed as they scooted over.

The two then started to read the book together until Pure pointed at a page suddenly, which had the pronouns “xey/xem” on it.

 **I like those.** they said, sounding genuinely happy as they said it.

“Alright! You like xey/xem and I like vey/vem!” vey said with a wide grin.

Pure nodded and got up, offering a hand to help vem get up. As vey did, vey glanced at the book that Pure was holding and tilted veir head to the side.

“What did you pick up?” vey asked curiously.

Pure held up the book and Radiance could see that the title was called “Hallownest Sign Language for Beginners” making vem make a sound of acknowledgement and nod in agreement at the book choice.

“Maybe when we get home, we can start practicing it together?” vey asked as the two made their way to the front desk to purchase the two books.

 **That would be nice.** Pure said with a cheerful and relieved tone to xeir voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how short this is, I'm kinda going to rush through these chapters so I can get to the next arch lmao


End file.
